


Running with the winds.

by rayfelle



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: prosthetics au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4264137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayfelle/pseuds/rayfelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata decided not to lose against it, even if it was his own damn leg.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running with the winds.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post: http://imaginethehaikyuukids.tumblr.com/post/87284190184/imagine-disabled-hinata-with-a-prosthetic-leg-he

They told him at the hospital that nothing could be done about it.

Hinata’s mother cried for so long, until her eyes turned red and puffy and she could only talk in whispers. His father held the tears back, but his hold on the white hospital sheets showed the pain inside vividly enough.

The boy himself though.

Hinata looked down on his right leg, what was left of it at least, and couldn’t feel anything. Shock, they told him. But it was something else. The stump seemed to be ridiculing him about something. Laughing in his face about a future it had taken away from him, perhaps.

At the age of six it was hard to tell, though. But little Hinata decided not to lose against it, even if it was his own damn leg.

…

The plastic leg feels weird. At times it is as if he has forgotten how to walk and has to learn all over again. So many times Hinata is near tears because of sheer frustration alone, but he still refuses to just give up and admit defeat to _some stupid leg_.

Hinata’s father is the one that helps him the most.

Patiently the two of them go through rehabilitation. First steps, slow walking. Soon they run together through the local park and his father’s smile is wider than Hinata’s own. “I knew you would do it. You’re strong, Hina.” The man says through relieved laughter while the two of them sleep on the soft grass, panting and out of breath from all the running.

…

At the start of his middle school, when Hinata feels the weight of something he doesn’t even have so strongly, he sees the Little Giant. As he watches that small body run and jump with that kind of speed and strength a flood of hope seems to wash over him.

It looks like the boy is flying when he jumps – free of limitations.

Hinata wants to be like that as well. He wants to run even faster, jump even higher. He wants to feel how it is to fly though the air like that, how it feels to see the other side of the net.

With a frown he looks down on his right leg, the prosthetic hidden under the loose sweats and old running shoes. But can he even do it, with this handicap of his? Can he run as fast as the others, even faster? Can he jump as high as the others, even higher than that? Even now there are bad days when the stump of his leg hurts too much and when his prosthetic feels too foreign still.

With a huff Hinata stops that train of thought and decides right there and then to overcome it. He will overcome his own limits and then whatever comes next and will be just as good, if not better, than the rest of volleyball players.

He _will_ fly, even with a clipped wing.

…

At the first and only volleyball tournament during his middle school Hinata meets Kageyama.

The setter has everything that Hinata doesn’t have – height, speed, skill. Envy is bitter on his tongue as he watches Kageyama move on the court and dominate with words and orders. It’s also short-lived when Hinata sees just how cold the other is.

Though, at that moment, it doesn’t matter at all. He only cares about the ball that’s flying towards him, over the net. With everything that his little and flawed body has, Hinata runs to the other end of the court and jumps as high as he can. He follows the ball like a bloodhound would chase its prey.

Even if he comes out bruised and with a match lost, the feeling of being _alive_ courses through Hinata’s blood and the whole world seems like his playground.

…

Karasuno High is the home of Little Giant. It’s like a dream just standing in the same halls that his idol had walked through. No matter the rough start and being in the same team as Kageyama. No matter the dull ache that sometimes settles where his right leg ends.

He doesn’t tell anyone from his team about the prosthetic weighting him down (just like he hadn’t told anyone in his middle school either). Hinata wears sweats during training, leggings under his shorts during the matches.

The fear of being subbed out and forced  to warm the bench is a thorn in the boy’s side, but it is a reality that can happen any day. Hinata decides to keep holding onto this one secret for as long as he can in order to stay on the court and marvel at the sting left on his palm after yet another toss had come to him.

…

They win the practice match against Aoba Josai and they meet Oikawa Tooru – the Grand King.

It feels good to be recognized by someone that strong as a worthy opponent. It feels _so good_ to stare the tiger right in the eyes and challenge it to a fight. The feeling is made even better by the fact that no one even thinks about the possibility that he might be flawed, different than the rest.

In the end it means he is just as good, even better than those with healthy and whole legs.

Hinata has overcome his own demons. Little by little he has proved himself that it is possible. Prosthetic or not, it is possible to be anything he wanted to be and more if only he fought hard for it.

…

When Ukai steps in as coach the same old fear of being found out and benched bubbles up quietly inside of Hinata. He fears that having read the files Ukai will decide to pull him out of the team, of games, just because of that one little detail. But days pass and nothing happens, Ukai’s amazement over his and Kageyama’s teamwork shadows anything else and strengthens Hinata’s place on the court.

In the end even Hinata himself forgets all about it. He laughs together with Tanaka and Nishinoya, argues with Tsukishima over the usefulness of height in volleyball. Training is still as hard as always, even more so now that the coach has gotten to know their strengths and weaknesses.

Summer gives way to warmer weather and Hinata starts to wear leggings for training as well. No one asks and soon the day comes when they play against Nekoma. It’s another opponent that sends sparks flying through Hinata’s whole being and awakens the need to get better and better and _better_ inside of him.

He starts to grow even more confident in himself. Starts to forget about the limitations he had set for himself.

…

Karasuno wins against all their opponents until they have to play Aoba Josai. They are on even ground with Oikawa and his team, although it’s not enough in the end. Even if they don’t get to the finals it’s not the end.

They didn’t win because of something Hinata didn’t do – they lost because they still have ways to grow. Coach Ukai tells them so right after the match and promises to lead the lot of them to even higher heights.

…

It’s a rainy day, chilly for a summer, so Hinata decides to wear his sweats to training again. His leg hurts too and with the leggings hugging his body so tightly the boy feels self-conscious, like the prosthetic might stand out too much.

He doesn’t worry about his teammates and coach; he worries about being too aware of the awkwardness of his leg and not being able to perform well.  From time to time he would skip school when the pain was a little bit too much, the anxiety of what others might think too loud in the back of his head. Today he is okay. Today he just feels a little too awkward in his own body, that’s all.

But maybe it wasn’t a good idea to come today. All day the dull pain has been throbbing and making Hinata stumble. He just wants to sit down and take the plastic leg off and soothe the ache with simple massaging. It doesn’t always help, but makes it easier anyway.

He does just that during practice, not being able to take it anymore. Just a few minutes should have be enough, but it hurts a bit too much and the tears come out of nowhere on their own. How could he possibly go back and continue running, _jumping_ when he is panicking so much?

…

It’s Tanaka that finds him, crying and desperately trying to massage the pain away.  The second year student freezes when he sees the tears and then he notices the prosthetic Hinata had taken off. “Hinata?” He asks, confused and worried even more so than before.

Instead of answering, the young boy cries harder, all ability to properly answer lost between the sobs. It’s not longer the pain that worries him, the dull ache now forgotten and the shock of someone finally finding out overtakes anything else.

“Oh shit--! Uh, okay, it hurts right? Let’s go!” Tanaka is quick to act. He picks up his tiny teammate, decides to leave the prosthetic in the locker room for now, and carries the still crying Hinata off to the nurse’s office.

When the nurse sees the crying boy she just smiles and points to one of the empty beds.  She calms down Tanaka, asks him to bring over Hinata’s things when he can. There is no way the teen can continue with practice, so his father will come and pick him up in a little bit.

By the time Tanaka comes back from his second trip to the nurse’s office the rest of the guys from the volleyball team look worried. The second-year awkwardly recaps what had happened, adds that Hinata is already on his way home at the end.

…

 It’s only a few days later that Hinata goes to school again – his mother had worried and made him stay home and rest. He thinks about the possible reactions from the members of the team, thinks of all the bad things that he remembers reading about in articles and news about the players that have been benched because of their limitations.

But Karasuno is not like that.

Right?

He takes a deep breath and opens the door to the gym, a _good morning_ falling from his lips. Tanaka and Nishinoya are the first that run up to him, ask him about his well-being and then clap on the back once Hinata laughs in relief.

“Show me how it works, the leg. It seems cool.” Nishinoya says then, while Hinata changes for morning practice. It’s the first time someone, apart from his sister, has asked the boy that.

…

After that training continues as usual. Sometimes Hinata chooses to wear shorts, his prosthetic not hidden under pants or leggings. Coach Ukai asks about his condition, when the stump of his leg hurt the most and kept that in mind for training, but never treats the boy any differently. Instead he sends the teen an encouraging smile, a promise to let Hinata evolve even more.

He trains just as hard, jumpsjust as high as before. Laughs and gets surer of himself, braver about showing off what he really is and what he can do. He is proud of himself. Proud of how strong he is for being able to overcome the things he had thought he was too weak for.

Acceptance is a breath of fresh air. Confidence is power.

And so, he decides to stand on the same court with the strongest players out there. Burning pride about what he is and about the trust his teammates put in him.

Let the world come – Hinata will take it on.


End file.
